Darkness Falls
by Humanities.Best
Summary: After the loss of his partner, Clint Barton starts changing, giving into his darker side. The effects of his crimes finally take hold, and shake him into a twisted sense of reality. All the Avengers worry as he becomes a man he, himself doesn't recognize. But then there was Crystal Jones, the woman who saw through the facade. Could she change the path he has been set upon by Hydra?
1. Rubik's Cube

A largely built man cackled as he looked at the bodies of the agents at his feet. "Puny Agents… I thought it would take more than a few bullets to stop Shield." He scoffed and walked off into the shadows, but was visible enough for the dying blonde female agent to see the Hydra logo printed on the back of his shirt.

 _ **3… 2… 1…**_

Clint Barton opened his eyes, everything was blurry and the light from the sun blinded his eyes. For a few moments he sat there, taking everything in. Eventually, he sat up with a groan. He blinked away the dancing rays of sunlight that burned his eyes, and his vision soon came into focus. A throbbing came from the back of his head. Had he been hit? Clint rubbed the back of his head with his left hand and soon discovered a knot. He had a dazed and confused look on his face as he scoured the area around him. Somehow he had ended up in this warehouse, was it a warehouse? Then it hit him.

"Watson." He muttered under his breath, as he turned to see his female partner lying on the ground coughing up her own blood. Clint looked her over and guessed that she had been shot at least four times. Her soft blonde hair was matted down and reddened by the blood, as well as her eyes crystallized by tears. Elizabeth 'Liz' Watson was a new recruit of what was left of Shield. This was her first mission, and Clint had been put in charge to train her as well as watch over her. He himself had put in a good fight, but was taken by surprise when a vial filled with green liquid injected in his body. Then he had been hit on the back of the neck. After all Clint had Hawkeyes, not Hawkears. Yet his thoughts were shattered by Liz's voice straining to say his name. "Liz! Hey look at me!" Clint could already see the light in her eyes fading as she tried so very hard to stay awake. He tried to call in on his transmitter, but the line was dead, and so nobody responded.

"Sir, I tried so hard.. He got to you and then shot me, and I fought… But he shot me three more times, and I couldn't stop him…"

He gently hushed her, as he went over to her side. Clint took one of her hands in his and applied pressure with his other on her wound. It slowed the bleeding some, but he could feel the red liquid spilling onto his hand. The metallic smell was overwhelming.

"You did more than enough Liz. Coulson and Fury would be proud." She gave him a small smile which caused a cough to erupt from her throat. Blood splattered their hands.

"Sir-"

"Liz, My Name's Clint. And second. Don't apologize, you're dying."

"Way to keep my hopes up Clint…" She said with a small chuckle.

"Even when you're on your deathbed, the sarcasm is strong in you."

This made her laugh. He was trying to keep her mind off the fact that she was dying. So far.. He'd been doing a terrible job. Liz started choking on her own blood. Clint mentally slapped himself for being so stupid. He moved in closer and cradled her smaller body up against his own. Blood began to flow in a small stream from her mouth as she continued to cough. Clint wiped away as much as he could with his sleeve. Her eyes fluttered in an awkward-off pattern. He pulled her as close as he could get her up against him. Clint looked up to the sky as if he were begging for God to help his partner, his friend.

"Clint, Thank You." She managed to mumble as her eyes remained shut. They were silent for a few moments before she broke in with her faint voice. "Don't let them have my body." Liz said in a pleading voice. He nodded and looked at her.

"I can promise you that Liz, you know why?" Liz barely shook her head. "I'm gonna take you back home, because you're not going to die." Clint's own voice was strained as he tried to keep the emotion out of it. "You're gonna go back home to that fiance of yours, and you're gonna pop out four or five kids."

Her eyes opened and she gave a small smile, and a faint nod. Afterwards she took in one last jagged breath, and with that. She let it out, tears streaming slowly from her eyes. He could feel her body go limp, and watch the light fade from her eyes until it was gone. Clint sat in silence for a few moments, before he closed her eyes. Then he wiped up the mixture of blood and tears off her face. He took in a deep breath and stood. A sharp pain shot up his right leg, and his cry of pain echoed through the empty, broken warehouse. It caused a few birds to fly out into the light. Clint saw his bow have way across the room, he limped over to it, and slid it into the holster on his back.

Clint looked down at Liz, who was in his arms. He let out a small quieted goodbye, and kissed her forehead. He then made his way to the door, limping, and carrying the girl who would never live again.

* * *

"He's stronger than I anticipated." An older gentlemen spoke from the darkness as he replayed the scene over and over on the screen in front of him. He had every angle and it greatly pleased him. "Did the drug infect the system?" A smaller, younger man nodded his head nervously. "You did good kid, you did good… I'll make this quick." Before the young man could process the next thought to go through his head a bullet had gone straight through and scattered the screen. The old man's deep husky voice chuckled as he left the room, leaving it blazing flames.

* * *

 **Just a little thing I've been working on. Let me known what you all think ;)**


	2. Mad World

"Clint!" Natasha Romanoff shouted as he passed through the common room of the tower. "How was the mission?" He brushed her off and climbed up into his 'nest'. It was a little nook carved into the wall of the theater. Up there were pillows, blankets, and access to the ventilation shaft. "Clint, come on. Talk to me."

"I'm not in the mood Nat." He spoke facing away from her. She had done this many times herself. He was closing himself off, cutting the emotions away like it was nothing. But she was his best friend. Clint could tell he everything, and she wouldn't judge.

"Come On Clint, how's Liz? If you won't speak. I'll just just go talk to her.."

" 'Fraid you can't do that." He said after a moment.

"And why not?"

"She's Dead Nat." The information his her like a truck. Natasha had first trained Liz when she was recruited, and both had saved each others lives on multiple occasions. In the past few weeks.

"I'm sorry Clint, I-"

"You didn't know.." He sighed. "I've been hearing that a lot today."

"Do you need to talk?"

"No." He spoke curtly. "Don't you have a Super Soldier you can go be with?"

"He's out on a mission, won't get in til later tonight, Clint. Come on." She started to climb the ladder. "I can never get you to shut up and now you won't speak…" He scoffed.

"She died in my arms Tasha. And I couldn't do anything. I don't even know who killed her."

"Then why are you taking this so hard? If you couldn't do anything. It wasn't your fault."

"Still feels like it." He spoke quietly as he curled into a ball. Natasha finished climbing the ladder and moved up next to him and sat silent next to him. Even if she didn't want to talk, she would be there for constant support, and be a shoulder to cry on.

* * *

"I could do it right now…" Clint spoke to himself as he looked over the edge of Stark tower. "I can end this pain." Even though he got his name for his archery, his close friends (mainly the Avengers) got to see how he really was like a bird. "No one would miss me…" His eyes watched over the edge. Clint could see the people walking below the tower, he could see the birds flying high in the sky. But he could also see himself hitting the ground, he could feel it. He could taste the iron as the blood would pour in a small stream from his mouth. He could hear Natasha's cries as she held his body. Her tears hitting his face, and before he could think.

He was falling. No, he was flying. He was free, and nobody could stop him, and when he hit the ground, he would be free from the pain, and suffering of this world. Clint Barton closed his eyes, he was ready to accept death.

"I don't think so birdbro…" Sam Wilson said as he caught the falling Hawkeye. Luckily he had been coming back from a cold lead on his 'missing persons case'.

"Just let me die!" Clint shouted through his tears.

"Now you know I can't let you do that."

"Drop Me Sam."

"No." Clint struggled, but Sam's hands gripping him never faltered.

"Just let me die.." He sobbed into his hands, and his whole body shaking as Sam landed. He couldn't care less that Bruce was looking over him frantically to see if he was injured. He couldn't care less when Natasha came up and slapped him across the face, and then wrapping her arms around him. Her tears gently wetting his t-shirt. He didn't care. Because he was dead inside.

* * *

"What happened?" A russian man spat through his gritted teeth.

"He tried to kill himself sir."

"How?"

"Jumping off the tower."

"Did he succeed?"

"No, Sam Wilson aka Falcon stopped him just before impact."

"Is something wrong with the serum?"

"It's functioning perfectly Sir, but his body might be rejecting it."

"You said-"

"It wasn't ready for human trials Dr. Strucker."

"Don't you dare talk back to me."

"Yes Sir." The scientist grumbled.

* * *

"Clint." Steve spoke softly to him.

'Shut Up.'

"Clint.."

'Shut. Up.'

"Clint!"

'I'm not going to speak.'

"You're not gonna get better with silence."

'Maybe I don't want to get better. That is why I wanted to kill myself. I can't get better.'

"Please say something… Anything…"

"I want to die."

"And I'm not going to let that happen."

* * *

 _ **Can Steve fix Clint? What is this mysterious serum? Dr. Strucker?**_

 **Sorry. Can't Tell You. You'll just have to wait, but anyway. Thank You For The Support and Love! Reviews are always appreciated.**


	3. Alone Together

_**A Year Later...**_

Clint sat in a small make-shift meeting room as he waited for Coulson to assign him a mission. After the various visits to doctors, and specialists they sent him back out into the field after three months. He only took solo missions, and each one was a success. Clint was rarely at the tower, and even the slightest gesture of kindness he reacted with a coldness. Much unlike the Clint everyone knew before. His eyes held a darker mood, and he looked different. He _felt_ different. Each morning Clint would look in the mirror and not even recognize himself. He was angry, and depressed. And overly annoyed when he found out this mission, he was assigned a _partner_.

"Agent Barton, I'm the new recruit. Agent Crystal Jones. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I would love to personally thank you for what you did in New York. It-"

"Yeah whatever."

"Oh. Alright then. Coulson said he would be in shortly... something about Fitz and a Simmons.." Crystal spoke slightly hurt.

"Thanks." He said sarcastically, he didn't even look at her, his eyes staring at the reflection in the glass.

"Sure."

"Barton, Jones. Sorry I'm late we had some issues with the _Inhumans_ as you both should know about." Crystal gave a nod and Clint rolled his eyes.

"Of course, we know how busy you are Director Coulson."

"Get on with it please." Clint almost interrupted her. She sent a glare over to him, and he didn't even look up to acknowledge it. He was _really_ different then what she had expected. All the agents spoke highly of him, and spoke of how light-hearted he was. They were most certainly wrong.

"Glad to know you're in a good mood this morning Clint." He sighed and looked down. "We got a Hydra base in Bangladesh. We need you two to clean it out. But we have an Agent trapped inside, so it's also a recon. May will take you out and drop you off. She's waiting in the Quinjet." Coulson slid a folder across the table to each of them, entailing what in extreme detail what they would be doing.

Clint stood up and left the room. Leaving Crystal and Coulson.

"What's stuck up his ass?"

"A death, on his hands. His last partner was killed in action... he was really never the same after. Good luck to you."

"Coulson?"

"Yes Crystal?"

"Why'd you assign me to him if he wants to be alone?"

"Because he needs a partner, he's suicidal, dangerous. I believe you can help stop that."

"You really think so?"

"I know so." He paused. "Goodluck, make it back. I have a very important mission for you two when you get back."

"I know I will." She spoke with a small smile as she left the room.

* * *

"Do you ever speak, other than when you're being rude?" Crystal asked when her curiosity peaked her.

"Nope."

"Well, you just did.."

"No I didn't."

"Yeah, you did."

"Whatever."

"Giving up that easily. Not the Shield spirit."

"I don't have _Shield Spirit_ not since the fall. I was lied to, and almost killed. No spirit here."

"I'm sorry, that must hurt."

"What would _you_ know about it?"

"More than you think Barton... more than you think."

* * *

 _"We're over the drop zone, get ready to jump."  
_

"Alright, you ready Barton?"

"As I'll ever be.."

"Geronimo." Crystal spoke as she jumped out of the quinjet, gracefully. Her hair flying away and she spead her arms out and let herself feel like she was flying. Clint rolled his eyes and jumped out a few seconds after. And they landed in a small, deserted field.

"Alright Twinkle Toes, let's get a move on. And I better not here any complaints about the walk."

"No complaints here." She smiled and started walking with him in silence, although about twenty minutes in she started humming _Alone Together_ by Fallout Boy; to lighten the mode.

"Stop."

"Stop what?"

"The humming."

"Can I sing then?"

"No.."

"Whistle?"

"No."

"Then I'm going to hum."

"The enemy will hear you."

"Like they'll hear us talking?"

"Fair point. Now, shut. It."

"Nope, you can't make me."

"Yes I can, I'm your superior."

"No, you're my _partner_." She emphasized. "And this is _our_ mission. I'll comply though. I'll silence my vocal chords..." Crystal dramatized.

"You're impossible. You know that?"

"That's my special quality Barton, glad you found that out quick. "

"Yeah." He spoke to himself as she furthered before him. "Me too."

* * *

 **Alright, please don't hurt me. I know it's been almost a month. -cringes: Oh well. I've been really planning this story out, developing it more for the future. I have already started to plan sequels. So... You have that to be excited about. Anyway. Questions, comments and reviews are _always_ appreciated.  
**


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